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MINT subforum: WHY?!?

Mint has as many daily downloads as Slackware + Gentoo + Knoppix combined.

It is the number 3 on the popularity list, right after Ubuntu and Fedora, and ahead of OpenSuse and Debian which are also among the subforums here.

Why have you not yet created a Mint subforum?

While many of the mentioned distros are more for experts and experienced penguins, Mint is definitely for the masses... it finishes the job Ubuntu almost did.

It has the potential to become THE flagship of the community, best poised to send it's light into the darkness of Windoze reality.

Although all the distros for which you have subforums, certainly have merit on a technical basis and great reason to exist, none of them can convert the masses like Mint has the potential to do.

For this reason, the entire community stands to gain if we make it easier for Mint users to get more focused help and information exchange on that distro, so as to keep them on Linux and lose none to going back to Windoze. They will stay, and bring in their friends, bringing attention on the entire community and all distros.

Mint has as many daily downloads as Slackware + Gentoo + Knoppix combined.

Hello

If you wouldn't mind providing a link, I'd be interested in knowing where you found the above information on DistroWatch. I took a look around there but couldn't find anything saying how many daily downloads have been made for any Linux distribution.

As for your question regarding a Mint Forum, only the full administrators here have any control over what forums we have and don't have on the site, so one of them will have to answer your question.

If you wouldn't mind providing a link, I'd be interested in knowing where you found the above information on DistroWatch. I took a look around there but couldn't find anything saying how many daily downloads have been made for any Linux distribution.

As for your question regarding a Mint Forum, only the full administrators here have any control over what forums we have and don't have on the site, so one of them will have to answer your question.

Thanks for the suggestion/feedback.

The link without the dot and http is all I was allowed to post... I don't have enough posts yet to be able to do that. Once again: distrowatch com

Hit PgDn once, or scroll down a page to a page and a half, and on the far RIGHT you will see a column entitled Daily Page Hit Rankings (H.P.D.=hits per day).

When a new version of Ubuntu gets released, the Ubuntu numbers will shoot up by a significant percentage, not only because Ubuntu users are downloading the new version, but because it takes the Mint team a while to implement their improvements before the new Mint becomes available... Mint users have the itch to get the new, so their curiosity and impatience has them download Ubuntu in the meantime. This is increasing the Ubuntu downloads during that void lasting a couple months by maybe 30%.

If you were to look at a period where both were delivering versions based on 9.10, maybe a 2-3 month period, you would see Mint placing even better. But be careful to not to include a month where the numbers are artificially skewed by the fact that Mint users are just taking a peek at the new Ubuntu awaiting the new Mint.

So long as Mint is binary compatible with Ubuntu (and in fact uses the Ubuntu repos), I don't see a reason to have a separate forum. In the mods want to name it Ubuntu/Mint as they do Redhat/Fedora, that seems fine.

Just as if SimplyMepis regained its old popularity, I would be against splintering it from the Debian forum so long as it's binary compatible with Debian.

But while we're on the subject, Arch Linux has been ranked higher than Slackware and significantly higher than Gentoo for some time now, so why doesn't it get a subform in the main section, instead of being lumped in with, gasp, Linspire, in a sub-subforum.

So long as Mint is binary compatible with Ubuntu (and in fact uses the Ubuntu repos), I don't see a reason to have a separate forum. In the mods want to name it Ubuntu/Mint as they do Redhat/Fedora, that seems fine.

Just as if SimplyMepis regained its old popularity, I would be against splintering it from the Debian forum so long as it's binary compatible with Debian.

I agree completely.

But while we're on the subject, Arch Linux has been ranked higher than Slackware and significantly higher than Gentoo for some time now, so why doesn't it get a subform in the main section, instead of being lumped in with, gasp, Linspire, in a sub-subforum.

reed9, we used to have a sub-forum for Arch, but that was a while back when it wasn't as popular as it is now. Maybe it's time to reconsider whether Arch should have it's own sub-forum again.

Hit PgDn once, or scroll down a page to a page and a half, and on the far RIGHT you will see a column entitled Daily Page Hit Rankings (H.P.D.=hits per day).

Thanks for the reply, Timmi.

I think you might be misunderstanding the page hits chart at DistroWatch. Page hit rankings have nothing to do with distribution downloads. They only indicate how many people have clicked on that distribution link at DistroWatch, and of course that doesn't download the distribution. So far as I know, DistroWatch doesn't track distribution downloads at all, so that would make your first "according to DistroWatch.com" statement incorrect.

That said, I don't know how many people actually download Mint, or how many Mint users show up here on these forums, but we don't get all that many Mint questions. However, Mint is one of the distributions often recommended to those that come here looking for help in picking their first distribution.

As stated earlier, only the full admins here have control over what forums are on the board so one of them will have to answer any questions about that.

I've been using Arch for more than 5 years but have personally never cared if it has its own forum here, or not, so I'm okay with the admins leaving it as is, removing it, or making it easier to find, as they see fit.

Just to be clear, that was not a serious request. I really don't care if Arch is moved to the main subforum page or not.

Hi, reed... I see nothing wrong with your comment either way. It might very well be that Arch deserves a better placeholder on the forums, but I generally go to the official forums should I need help with anything.